Expert-Led Training: Proven Methods, Real Transformations

Many dogs start their agility career with good stopped contact performance. But over time, the behavior or the criteria changes and morphs into something undesirable. What causes that to happen?

Most dogs know how to do the exercises. They even have a foundation in engagement. But when they compete, things often fall apart. Competition requires another level of engagement. Dogs must maintain engagement while performing a complex series of behavior chains. Many distractions at trials are unpredictable and cannot be replicated in training. It’s impossible to prepare for every eventuality.

Do you have a dog that chases the ball, yet won’t bring it back? Plays keep away with toys? Tugs but won’t let go? Bites you instead of the tug? Obsesses over toys, yet won’t listen to a single thing you say? Is your dog so high in drive for toys that they can’t think? Or do you just want to channel that prey drive right from the beginning and add the attitude your dog has for tugging or chasing toys to the obedience or agility ring?

Ever feel envy when you watch a obedience/rally/Schutzhund/etc… trial performance and the dog executes perfect skills for the WHOLE routine? No treats in the handler’s pocket, no toy in their hand, but the dog is certainly acting like there is!

If you want to do dog sports then you’ll want a variety of foundation skills. One of the most critical of these skills is teaching your dog to jump!

If you hold your breath while your dog throws themselves at obstacles then this class is for you.  Correct jumping is quiet, fluid, and powerful!  Good jumpers create confident handlers who can focus on their side of the equation - providing cues and information while the dog does their job - move through the jumping exercises with confidence and ease!

Whether your sport is obedience, agility, flyball or doggy disc, your dog must learn how to use their body correctly so that they are confident in themselves and learn to love their doggy sports! 

If you want your dog to be the best jumper possible, join Loretta Mueller and teach your dog the mechanics of jumping!

This class is a foundation level class that will get your absolute beginner off on the right foot. This class is also appropriate for dogs that are already struggling, either showing less than stellar form or experiencing issues with their confidence.

Class will cover all types of jumps from single bars to triples to broad jumps, though each individual’s rate of progress will vary.  Take your time and teach this foundation skill with excellence!

Loretta will not use a single “method” to teach jumping; rather the class will introduce a variety of techniques to get the best out of each team.

Not all dogs are high drive. In fact, most dogs fall into the average- to lower-drive range, and it can be more challenging to motivate them. Handlers often assume they can’t increase a dog’s arousal—that the dog is simply “that way.” But that’s not necessarily true. In many cases, we can increase arousal; we just need to be creative.

It takes some time to develop your eye, and hands to get an idea of how your performance dog's body is feeling.

Play is about more than the toy or the game. It’s a shared experience, shaped by the relationship between dog and handler. The presence, timing, energy, and expectations of the handler influence how a dog experiences engagement, effort, and arousal. This workshop explores play through a relational lens, focusing on how connection, shared intent, and co-regulation support a dog’s ability to stay present and engaged.

Many handlers notice that engagement shifts depending on how involved they are, or that play feels easy one moment and strained the next. Rather than teaching specific games or techniques, this session invites participants to observe how their dog responds within the relationship itself. How does the dog change when the handler is more active, more still, more directive, or more responsive? How does connection support your dog, and when might it ask more than they’re ready to give? How does your dog respond to closeness, interaction, and attention? What does mutual engagement look like for different dogs, and how does it shift under excitement or stress?

Participants will learn how to recognize relational patterns in play, understand why some dogs are more socially driven than object-driven, and explore how small changes in interaction can support regulation, clarity, and trust. By the end of this workshop, handlers often find they feel more confident reading their dog’s responses and more intentional about how they show up in play. This workshop is designed for handlers who want to deepen their understanding of their dog, refine how they engage, and use engagement as a way to notice, adjust, and respond more intentionally.

If you compete in Rally, lateral movement is a requirement, but even if you just want to teach your dog a more solid understanding of heel, this skill is a good one to have. I use sidesteps all the time when I’m heeling, to help bring the dog closer to me, reduce crabbing, and straighten out crooked sits.

We invest countless hours teaching behaviors and building chains that look beautiful in training—only to step into the ring and watch everything fall apart. What happened? Why does the dog suddenly struggle?